Tara Lipinski will not be behind a commentary desk this evening. She’s not analyzing dancing with her typical flair or recounting triple lutzes. Rather, she is entering a whole other arena—Peacock’s popular reality show The Traitors US—and exchanging her microphone for a place at a table in a Scottish castle that is teeming with secrets, mistrust, and strategy. Her appearance is a delightful turn of events. Tara, who frequently sits next to Johnny Weir in ensembles as iconic as the performances they cover, has been a recognizable voice on big figure skating broadcasts for years. She’s competing tonight, though, and…
Author: errica
While the cafeteria down the hall gets ready for lunch service, fourth graders at Central Heights are busy making little circuits just after the morning announcements reverberate over the intercom. On a typical day in Sullivan County, “normal” frequently entails having abilities that seem remarkably advanced. Real-world training and robotics are viewed as necessary, not optional, in this district. Although the Sullivan County Department of Education serves more than 7,700 kids, it seems to have a broader reach than that figure suggests. The schools have developed into a reliable starting point in an area where economic opportunity isn’t always spread…
Every weekday, just before eight in the morning, the parking lots surrounding Hamblen County schools start to fill in a pattern that feels remarkably similar: a constant stream of buses, parent drop-offs, and early teacher arrivals to prepare lessons that will soon be tested by actual classrooms rather than planning documents. The daily routine of the Hamblen County Department of Education involves the discreet management of expectations that go far beyond bells and schedules. Serving almost 10,000 students in Morristown and the surrounding areas, the district strikingly captures the cultural and economic facets of East Tennessee. Schools serve as anchors…
I spotted it while passing, like a smart ring or fitness tracker on a shelf. “Enhance Your Focus with Brain-Tech” was printed on the plain white, minimalist packaging. It was no longer a gimmick or prototype. It existed. The average consumer could now purchase brain-computer interfaces, which were previously exclusively associated with medical facilities and neuroscience labs. The initial generation of consumer BCIs does not attempt to read your innermost thoughts. They are non-invasive, based on electroencephalography, and enhanced by artificial intelligence. They are made to identify brainwaves through the scalp. These stylish headbands and earphones subtly track patterns of…
The typical moment of passing the vending machines after school is where it all begins. The sound of a teen opening a Pepsi can is oddly reassuring. It appears innocuous, almost sentimental. However, there is an issue that is only now coming to light beneath that well-known fizz. New studies are confirming what many have long assumed but found difficult to substantiate: sugary drinks are causing more than just an increase in waist circumference. Teenagers’ developing brains are being subtly hampered at a particularly delicate time. They are specifically disrupting the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is essential…
A 17-year-old was standing at a booth called “Future Tech Apprentice” at a busy job fair outside of Kansas City. This booth offered something refreshingly straightforward: a full-time career, practical training, and no debt requirements, while surrounding universities offered glossy brochures and intricate financial aid pitches. The young man wasn’t an anomaly. He belonged to a growing trend of students choosing apprenticeships over traditional college courses because they emphasize instant vocational skills and financial independence. Apprenticeship programs have quietly gained traction over the last five years in a variety of industries that were previously thought to be limited to degree…
Neuroscientists have been studying how animals navigate mazes for decades, and their findings go far beyond left turns and rewards. They found groups of neurons that fire in identifiable patterns to assist direct future actions in addition to marking location. These are called navigation cells, and they are quite good at mentally and physically mapping out pathways. The first cells to make headlines were place cells. These neurons, which John O’Keefe discovered in the hippocampus, fire when an animal takes up residence in a particular area. Grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, which fire in geometric patterns to measure direction…
A sound that we cannot hear at first causes it to reverberate more loudly than we anticipated. Plants are not as silent as we used to think, despite being our everyday companions. Amazingly, a lot of plants start making fast, high-frequency clicks when they are under stress, whether from physical harm or dehydration. These are actual, quantifiable sound waves released into the atmosphere, not symbolic appeals for assistance. The auditory signals’ uniqueness is what makes this development remarkably akin to a breakthrough in language. For instance, the actions of a tomato plant are not random. The pattern changes after it…
The start was subtle. At an MIT tech employment fair, a student skipped it to attend a discussion about ocean acidification. As an alternative to a software giant, a data science acquaintance applied for a position at a carbon capture company. These decisions, which at first seemed unexpected, have subtly increased, indicating a more profound change in the way that tomorrow’s talent views their jobs. Many college applicants believed they would graduate with stylish professions coding code for cloud platforms or social apps. However, priorities have changed in the last many years. Once a specialized field of study on campus,…
“When’s the last time you finished a full movie without checking your phone?” was a question posed to a group of college students over dinner. The ensuing chuckle was deliberately ashamed rather than defensive. Nobody had a response. The casual honesty of that brief time revealed a deeper aspect of how attention now flits and skips. Not because individuals are irresponsible, but rather because behaviors have changed subtly but significantly. TikTok’s feed is short, fast, and easily addictive—like candy for the brain. While most videos are brief enough to watch in an elevator, they are just engaging enough to warrant…